While down the shore this summer I had the best idea...create a website where you can register for anything from anywhere and it's all in one place for everyone to buy from....great idea, right? Yeah, well it seems that it was too good because someone already did it. No hard feelings though because they're totally awesome! The website I speak of is called Registry Love.
This website is totally awesome because it allows you to add anything from anywhere! If you want to register at 30 stores...it's fine! All you have to do is upload the link on their website and they will add all the gifts from each registry for you. When you sign up you get a concierge (mine is Marika...and she is AWESOME) who will answer any questions if you have them and help you with any items that you want to add.
Here are the two things that I found to be most helpful:
Options: My aunt bought me something from my registry which happened to not be in stock anymore. Not only did Marika email me immediately, but she also searched the internet for similar products at the same price so that I could substitute if I wanted...how great is that?
Which brings me to my next point....
Spreadsheet: Registry love creates a spreadsheet of all of your gifts so you can keep track of who gave you what, as well as if a thank you card was sent. Also, before a gift is sent to you you must accept/reject it. At first I was all like "that's so weird, obviously I want it if it's on my registry?" and then I received 2 Keurigs from bed, bath and beyond. See, if I had had that option with them I could have rejected the gift. Also cool? If you do reject the gift, the money that was spent on the gift is now yours to use on something else on your registry. (sidenote: my aunt said she didn't like this because then they are not really choosing the gift for you and that takes away their part in the gift, which I don't disagree with, but I really feel the reject option should be used only when something of the same has already been purchased or as in her case it was no longer available.)
Here are two things that I found annoying but hear me out:
Sale prices don't show up on the website: This was kind of annoying, but through much back and forth with Marika she explained that if something is on sale when it is purchased, the extra money will be credited back to me so that I could use it on something else on the registry. While this is a good option, it also means that someone wont buy something that is, let's say $50 but on sale for $30 because they don't know that it is actually $30. But I figure this is a lot easier than registering at 6 different places.
No coupons: Since you are going through this website and don't know where the product is being purchased from, you can't use coupons. This really does suck but perhaps in the future they will change this.
Don't get me wrong, I registered at bed, bath and beyond as well to appease those who want to go somewhere for a shopping experience, but overall most of my decor ended up on here. Dan and I like all different things from all different places, so registering at BBB for everything wasn't really an option for us. If you're as all over the place as we are this is the perfect place for you to register!
So a few months ago we had hurricane Sandy. While siting amidst the lacK of light and lack of heat (notably tipping the scales at 42 degrees in our apartment) Dan decided to make the most of a bad situation and propose in front of the fire that was keeping our eyes in focus and our fingers alive. Wait- I should probably back up a little...to Dan. Dan is my boyfriend (now fiancee) whom I met in my freshman year of college at the University of Delaware. Our then RA basically forbid floorcest ( Floor-cest- noun: "hooking up" between persons so closely living together that they are forbidden by RA law to consort, due to the impending doom that shall result when they cease to hookup, therefore causing severe awkwardness in the common areas) which we obviously didn't feel the need to follow. To make a long story short, here we are almost 8 years later (actual anniversary date: March 11- though according to Dan, this date doesn't matter since we will be celebrating another date- actually September 1!- for the rest of our lives...but I digress...) engaged and ready to be married. So I know that this blog was dedicated to baking and all that good stuff- but I will also be posting about all my wedding progress as well, mainly in hopes of helping others like myself that are going through the same process.
Due to all the destruction from Sandy I believed all of those brides that were getting married down the shore would be looking for places to get married- therefore I needed to start my hunt immediately. I should start by saying that I am a little quirky (read VERY quirky) and therefore wanted an nontraditional reception. I was looking for an inn or bed and breakfast, basically something quaint. Also to mention- I was looking for, at the most, $110 per person- I absolutely refused to go over that (since after tips and taxes it works out roughly to $150 per person).
Here are the viable options I found for the look I wanted and the price range within New Jersey (that's where I now live) and the stories that accompany each:
David's Country Inn
314 Main Street
Hackettstown, NJ
(908) 850-0224
www.DavidsCountryInn.com
I almost booked this place before I walked out the door. It is truly wonderful-just read the reviews. Basically how I explained this place to Dan was "I read all the reviews and the only negative thing I read was that the turkey meatballs weren't that great so try to avoid those if you can- and if that is the worst thing you can say about a place, that's somewhere I want to be." This place was so charming and homely- it s run by a family consisting of a mother, brother and sister. I had the pleasure of dealing with Jordan, the sister of the trio. She was so pleasant and nice and willing to accommodate my crazy work schedule to show me the place. The place itself is an old mansion. There is a beautiful old wood bar in the front with the back of the building being the ballroom- complete with wrap around balcony (read awesome photo ops). The only negative to this place was that there was no on-site outside wedding ceremony opportunities. They do work with a historical society that is an old chateau looking building by a lake- located a few minutes away- which is what you see on the website, who will be glad to host your ceremony there. Other than that it really was perfect. They have two dinner packages, visible on the website, that include your wedding cake AND your centerpieces! How cool is that? The favors mentioned on the website are the centerpieces that they then deconstruct into easy to manage bouquets for all the guests to take home with them. The prices for these packages differ depending on which day you have it and which month. Surprisingly, October is their most expensive month: with the Ideal package costing $95 for a Friday, $110 for a Saturday and $90 for a Sunday and the Deluxe package costing $110 for a Friday, $125 for a Saturday and $105 for a Sunday. Needless to say this is actually quite inexpensive compared to other venues as well as for what you are getting for the money. The other thing I like was that premium open bar was included. This meant all top shelf liquor as well as four beer choices, one of the beer choices being the beer of your own selection. Dan, being the beer aficionado that he is, thought this was awesome and immediately deemed it the hardest decision he will have to make.
So why didn't I book this place? Yes, very good question...because Dan didn't let me :) Let me say that this was the first place we visited and I was ready to tell Jordan yes before we walked out. Dan told me we needed to look at a minimum of one more place before we made any decisions. I was mad, but thank god he did because I would never have found the place we did decide on :)
Ram's Head Inn
9 W. White Horse Pike
Galloway, NJ
(609) 652-1700
www.ramsheadinn.com
I never went to see this place, but from the images online I loved it. It looked very vintage with an intimate feel. Their prices were awesome, coming in at $85 for Friday and Sunday or $95 for Saturday for January, February and March or $92 for Friday or Sunday and $107 for Saturday for the rest of the year. One negative was that you had to provide your own wedding cake- which is an expense that can quickly become costly depending on what you want. The package also included premium open bar but was an $11.50 per person upgrade for top shelf open bar. I can't really say much else since I never visited. I actually wanted to go visit but Dan said it was too long of a drive to go look at a place, and I figured if he didn't want to make the drive when it was an option he wouldn't want to make the drive when we had to do tastings or anything else.
Nassau Inn
10 Palmer Square
Princeton, NJ
(609) 921-7500
www.nassauinn.com
When I said quaint, I meant quaint. This place is the quintessential quaint inn. I have never been inside, but from the outside and the pictures that I have seen online, this place seems too good to be true. It is situated in the heart of the adorable town of Princeton. It has all the old world charm that I was looking for. Unfortunately they weren't so quick to get back to me- which for me was a big red flag, but I was willing to overlook it. But this also means that I don't have the exact information I was looking for and can't give information aside from what I found on the website. One of the best things about this place was that it really was an inn, meaning that all your guests could stay there, eliminating the need for travel from the reception to sleeping quarters. Nassau Inn has several different packages, all including open bar (with an optional super premium bar upgrade of $10 per person) and your wedding cake. The main differences between packages is variety of appetizers and number of courses. Prices are $99 for the Palmer Reception, $110 for the Princeton Wedding, $118 for the Ivy League Wedding and $130 for the Nassau Inn Wedding. Granted I don't know if this is the price for every night or for Fridays in December, either way you'll have to contact them for more information- and I wish you better luck than I had. One of the great things that had caught my eye, specifically for Dan, was that they had a craft beer station option. It was $8 per person but allowed you the option of 5 choices of craft beer to be served for your wedding. Dan thought this was really cool and through all my research this was the only place that offered something of this nature.
and to my final and clear favorite:
Perona Farms
350 Andover- Sparta Road
Andover, NJ
(973) 729-6161
www. peronafarms.com
I'll be completely honest, I originally went here under protest. As I said before, I was completely in love with David's Country Inn and was only attending this meeting to appease Dan. I had called to find out if the dates we wanted were even available ( for the record I wanted sometime in October) and was told that they had most of the dates open. I immediately saw this as a red flag. It was already November and with less than a year to go they had multiple weekends open...uh oh something was wrong! But I had promised Dan, so I went along anyway. Its one saving grace? It had a barn that you could get married in front of, so if anything I could always get some good pictures. We pulled up to the catering hall- because that's what it is, a catering hall (the epitome of everything I didn't want)- and my exact words were "I hate this place." Dan, being the sweetheart that he is, said we didn't have to go in if I didn't want to, but of course after driving over an hour I wasn't just going to turn around and head back home. We walked in to the office which is still decked in bad 80s decor with floral patterned chair and swags of fabric curtains lining every doorway. Finally Ron came out to meet us and asked if we wanted to start by taking a tour of the grounds. He took us to see everything, which was actually quite beautiful, even after a hurricane which ravaged their apple orchard. On the way back he asked if we were here to see the venue or the barn. I was confused? Isn't the barn a part of the venue? Alas it is not anymore. They are converting the barn into its own separate venue. That. right there. That's my dream wedding, Barn? Yes please! I told him not to even bother with the venue, that I only wanted to see the barn. Bear in mind, he said, that we are still in the process of re-doing it so right now it is bare bones. I could say I fell in love once we got inside, but I really fell in love once he said barn. They had just finished all the structural work and were about to start on all the decor. They were restoring it authentically to maintain the original feeling. It had a porch out back with a horseshoe pit for cocktail hour. Upstairs was the reception room, with an old wood bar in the back corner, situated next to and old red leather upholstered banquet. Next to that? A giant barn door that opened to bring the outside in- SOLD! What type of tables? Long rectangular ones because everything is served family style- I'm sorry, did you just mention the wedding of my dreams? What type of beers? (obviously Dan wants to know) Well they are trying to keep the whole place local- locally grown produce and meats- and all locally crafter brews. I'm 98% sure I heard Dan cry a little. It seemed that this place was too good to be true. Maybe I should have asked how much everything was before I fell in love? We sat down to go over price- $130 for Friday, $140 for Sunday and $160 for Friday. I cried, literally one tear, but still. I asked if they had anything open in October- NOTHING. Not one date. I died a little. Besides the fact that it was way out of our price range, they didn't have the option anyway. Ron looked and said that he could work it in our price range if we could do the Sunday of labor day weekend and change some of the options around....um OKAY! Although I hate the month of September, no real reason why I just do, this was literally my dream wedding. It was as if someone had taken my wedding out of my head and put it on paper. True- the venue isn't done yet (something my mom is semi freaking out over) but I think the people getting married there in March need to worry about that more than I do. But I can only imagine how great it is going to be!
I know my stories are quite long, but those were my experiences. And I only hope that it helps even one person out in the future!
By day, I'm an associate designer at a children's clothing company, by night a masked crusader baking queen. Alright, maybe more of a princess, since im pretty sure you need to be over 5 feet to be a queen, no? There's something soothing about coming home from a crazy day at work, where nothing can be expected and nothing ever goes as planned, and jumping into a recipe that is so structured than any slight deviation may result in the destruction of the world...too far?...well, you know what I mean. I guess that's why I bake. I like the structure of a recipe that I shouldn't really alter. While cooking, you can throw a little of this or a little of that in there and everything could turn out fine. But in baking, if you mess with the amount of baking powder in your cake mix, you can kiss your beautiful end product goodbye. After getting home from work at 7 I like to take those few hours before sleep and make something beautiful that everyone can enjoy. I'm hoping to make this blog the spot where I can post all of my fabulous creations from baking to crafting, to any other crap that may arise :)
